From the author of Lucky Few comes a “refreshing” (Booklist, starred review) teen novel about Internet fame, peer pressure, and remembering not to step on the little people on your way to the top!
After a shout-out from one of the internet’s superstar vloggers, Natasha “Tash” Zelenka suddenly finds herself and her obscure, amateur web series, Unhappy Families, thrust in the limelight: She’s gone viral.
Her show is a modern adaptation of Anna Karenina—written by Tash’s literary love Count Lev Nikolayevich “Leo” Tolstoy. Tash is a fan of the 40,000 new subscribers, their gushing tweets, and flashy Tumblr gifs. Not so much the pressure to deliver the best web series ever.
And when Unhappy Families is nominated for a Golden Tuba award, Tash’s cyber-flirtation with a fellow award nominee suddenly has the potential to become something IRL—if she can figure out how to tell said crush that she’s romantic asexual.
Tash wants to enjoy her newfound fame, but will she lose her friends in her rise to the top? What would Tolstoy do?
Kathryn Ormsbee grew up with a secret garden in her backyard and a spaceship in her basement. She is the author of The Water and the Wild, The Doorway and the Deep, and The House in Poplar Wood and the YA novels Lucky Few, Tash Hearts Tolstoy, The Great Unknowable End, and The Sullivan Sisters. She’s lived in lots of fascinating cities, from Birmingham to London to Seville, but she currently lives in Eugene, Oregon.
"It’s beyond refreshing to see an asexual character, and the complexities of Tash’s relationships with Thom, her friends, her sister, and, yes, fame make this a home run. The flip, irreverent tone, literary references, and peek into the creation of
a web series are just icing on the cake."
— Booklist, STARRED REVIEW
"[A] spot-on narrative voice, make this a compassionate and frank look into challenges that can seem to fly at teenagers from all directions."
— Publishers Weekly
